Tips & Tricks

Learn a local language on Mother Language Day

21st Feb 19

If you want to learn a new language, why not start with a local one? South Africa has 11 officially recognised languages, so there's definitely something for everyone. Here are 3 apps to get you started.

1. Mondly

This language learning platform is available in 190 countries and offers 33 languages, including Afrikaans. With a free subscription, you can access six lessons, one conversation and one vocabulary section. You also get a new lesson every day, weekly quizzes and monthly challenges. As a premium subscriber (starting at R139.99 per month for one language), you have access to more than 1,000 lessons and conversations as well as 5,000 words and phrases.

Note that while it's an easy, fun way to learn a language, the digitised voice doesn't quite get the pronunciation right.

2. uTalk

This language app, created by British educational publisher EuroTalk, offers more than 140 languages, including Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaans. You can subscribe to all the languages or pick and choose which ones you want to learn. Without a subscription, you can access basic phrases and games, but you'll need to pay to unlock the full package. Xhosa and Zulu cost R59.00 per month and Afrikaans costs R39.00 per month.

3. Learn Ndebele – Fun African Language Learning

This app was developed by The African Languages (AFLANG) Project. What makes it so different is that it not only teaches you the language of Ndebele, but also the culture of the Ndebele people. The words and phrases are recorded by language experts and people whose first language is Ndebele. Memory, listening and writing games, as well as a word of the day, will help you learn the language quickly and easily. To access more content, you'll have to pay R41.99.